Missouri and Vanderbilt Game Thread

Black and Gold fest! Albeit they're a different color of gold...

WHO? Your Mizzou Tigers @ Vanderbilt Commodores WHAT? Le Baskétball WHEN? Feb 10, 2016 8 PM CST WHERE? A terrible gym Nashville, TN WHY? SEC Scheduling Requirement WATCH SEC Network LISTEN Tiger Radio Network Mike Kelly, Gary Link

Keeping an eye on the Four Factors! For a quick explanation on what they mean: Click Here!

Surprisingly, with Vandy's superior size (27th in the country) they don't get a lot of offensive rebounds (272nd). Other than that, there's not much to get excited about in this matchup, Mizzou has been pretty good on eFG Defense, but Vanderbilt is known for Kevin Stallings and offense. So this might be one of the tougher matchups for the Tigers, particularly because as good as Vandy is on offense, they've been even better on defense.

The last trip to Memorial Gym wasn't a pleasant one for the Tigers as they lost by 23 to the surging Commodores. Vandy has struggled so far this season in the win column, but they're still dangerous and incredibly tough to beat at home. Chris is probably sad he's not writing this because I'm sure he would have to say something about Memorial Gym about now, but I'll just have to hope he's available in time to comment on the game in the thread below.

The Commodores are 13-10 so far this season, but have battled a pretty tough early non-conference schedule that included losses to Kansas, Dayton, Baylor and Purdue. They dropped their Big12/SEC matchup against Texas as well, leaving them with five non-con losses. They've struggled to hit their stride in conference play as well going 5-5 so far, and started 0-3 against LSU, South Carolina and Arkansas.

The Commodores are led by Wade Baldwin IV, and Damian Jones so far this year. And they've been a little disappointed by the play of freshmen sensation Riley LaChance who has netted 8.4 ppg, after averaging over 12 a year ago. Vandy has nine players who see the floor for more than 11 minutes a game, so they'll sub often.

#Mizzou at Vanderbilt... it's GAME DAY. Tigers on @SECNetwork tonight at 8 p.m. CT #MIZ pic.twitter.com/LNJsLmRBw1

— Mizzou Basketball (@MizzouHoops) February 10, 2016

I honestly don't see a big reason why Mizzou should be expected to be in this game. They aren't good on the road, and they struggle to score. They're going up against a good defensive team, and one that shoots the ball well at home. This is a game that if Mizzou doesn't play with great energy from the tip, could get away from them in a hurry. There can be no letdown in effort in a game like this.

Leave any trifecta picks in the comments if you want, Score predictions also... I'll say Wes Clark, Terrence Phillips and Namon Wright... and Mizzou loses 86-65.

UPDATE:

Russell Woods and Jakeenan Gant traveled with the team and are available tonight

#Mizzou forwards Russell Woods and Jakeenan Gant traveled with the team and are available in tonight's game against Vanderbilt.

— Andrew Kauffman (@A_Kauff) February 11, 2016